COLUMBUS, Ohio– The Ohio State women’s swimming and diving team fell just short of clinching an unbeaten dual meet season (and a seventh consecutive win) Saturday following a two-day meet against Penn State at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. The Nittany Lions topped the Buckeyes in a final tally of 176-158.

“We dug ourselves a bit of a hole Friday and it was going to be really, really difficult for us to come back and win this meet,” Ohio State coach Bill Dorenkott said. “We would have had to swim a flawless meet to overtake Penn State.”

The Buckeyes gave it their best effort. A young 200 medley relay team composed of freshmen Kelsey Moran, Shannon Draves, Megan Detro and sophomore Catherine Eitel scored the first points of the day for the Ohio State swimmers, clocking in with a winning time of 1:43.89.

Junior Samantha Cheverton was a triple-winner on the day, coming up big in the 500 freestyle (4:50.34), 100 butterfly (55.52) and 100 backstroke (55.85). Freshman Megan Detro also claimed the 100 freestyle in 50.97.

“Overall, I was pleased with our performance,” Dorenkott said. “Our relays were strong – we won three out of four – and I thought we rebounded well from yesterday.”

“It has been a really good group of seniors,” Dorenkott said before the meet. “They have really grown in terms of willingness to accept change and willingness to really work hard. They have done a nice job.”

Sophomore Bianca Alvarez closed out the competition by earning first in the 3-meter dive, scoring a total of 372.40 points for the Buckeyes.

The Buckeyes will spend the next two-plus weeks concentrating and preparing for the Big The Conference championships, Feb. 17-20 in West Lafayette, Ind.